Yesterday (Sunday), the IDF reportedly began a raid on the al-Amal neighborhood in western Khan Yunis. Just this morning, the IDF announced that dozens of terrorists had been eliminated.
The 98th Division noted that entry into al-Amal was via three brigade combat teams: 7th, 84th, and Commando.
According to a source with the division, this is a typical operation: "What we are doing in the Gaza Strip in the last few weeks and perhaps also beyond that - we conduct targeted activity based on intelligence."
He noted that "this is not intelligence we received yesterday. We accumulate (intelligence) every day during activity and operate on this basis."
According to that senior source in the division: "In this context, we entered into this operation in the al-Amal neighborhood to continue achieving the goal of harming Hamas' military and governmental capabilities. Continued harm to these infrastructures which are still active in this area, continuing to harm terrorists. And as it appears, we also hit dozens of terrorists in this action and are continuing also to arrest terrorists during operations."
The division stressed that dozens of terrorists captured by the IDF are providing a lot of intelligence information. "We are already determining significance and operating based on the information we are getting from the detainees, which allow us to continue the focused method of operation," the source said.
Operations in the neighborhood take place based on a method allowing the uninvolved population to leave the area of operations, with the civilians leaving westward towards the Muwasi which is defined as an area closer to the sea, southwest of Khan Yunis. This move allows for focusing on hitting and arresting terrorists.
The modus operandi in Shifa is proving itself in al-Amal
Last February, the IDF maneuvered in the hospital area in the neighborhood and allowed the entry of some 20 oxygen tanks, while arresting dozens of terrorists. The return to the area raises the question of whether it was right to leave the place a month ago, when we see the same behavior at Shifa Hospital in recent days.
According to the source: "We are operating in our case, 98th Division, throughout the area of Khan Yunis. We are not holding every street and every house and governmental building continuously. We operate where we need to operate on the basis of intelligence. The example of Shifa is an excellent once."
He added that "we returned to operations in Shifa on the basis of intelligence and we returned to very intense activity inside and around the hospital with amazing results in this activity in Shifa. Thus the modus operandi proved itself, and we are operating in the same manner in Khan Yunis."
The division noted that the soldiers go in and out and follow no fixed pattern so as not to allow the enemy to identify it. "We operate everywhere and know where the enemy is to hit it," the source said.
According to him, "we are operating systematically to sweep those places where we may have not yet been and perhaps places where we were and to which we return. As we see in Shifa, the enemy feels comfortable in returning there and we also returned there. This is the method we are working with in the past few weeks."
So how do we prevent the enemy's return there? Maybe there's a need to station forces after activity in al-Amal in order so that terrorists and senior leaders don't return.
"I don't want to give more details than I have regarding our modus operando," the senior officer said, saying that he was clear enough. "This method proved itself, we are succeeding in hitting (them). Just yesterday, we eliminated dozens of terrorists with this activity."
And how long will the al-Amal operation last?
"I don't want to address that."